A Short Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The wait is over and the process of review begins. I have many thoughts on what I watched last night but I won't share them all right now as that would mean spoiling it for a few others.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a good movie and more importantly a good Indy movie. It is not like any of the previous three films, although it's tone is very similar to the Last Crusade and it's believability and pace are closer to Temple of Doom. Other than that is an all new, action packed adventure film featuring our favorite archaeologist.

In this film, everything happens in 1957 rather than the 1930's. The way in which this aspect is handled is perfect, complete with music, cars, dialog, costumes, and situations that fit the era.

There are subtle references to other Indy films and the TV show, along with a few nods to some other movies Spielberg and Lucas have worked on which I thought was a nice touch.

The entire first half of the film is pure Indy gold and I have nothing bad to say about it. After that there are a few issues I had concerning the story and the inclusion of a certain "character" at the end, but for the most part I believe it was handled right.

I think one of the problems of the film was it's overly fast pace. This led to a lack of time for character development, thus not giving the fans much of a chance to fall in love with the characters they are supposed to love and hate those they are supposed to hate.

Another problem was the over use of computer generated imagery. All of that CGI comes as a "film culture shock" after watching the older Indy films with nearly 0% CGI.

I would like to go on but if I do I run the risk of spoiling the film for anyone stumbling onto this site who hasn't seen it.

My official ranking of the entire Indiana Jones series is as follows

1st place: Raiders of the Lost Ark AND The Last Crusade (Tied)
2nd place: The Temple of Doom AND The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Tied)

Raiders and Last Crusade have always been tied in heart.

As far as KotCS and Temple of Doom go, I think KotCS is at least as good as Temple of Doom was and will probably be moved up after a few more viewings. It's hard to beat an old favorite like Temple of Doom :)

Thanks for reading my brief but hopefully helpful review. If you have seen the movie and would like to comment, then feel free. BUT WAIT! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...NO SPOILERS! I would like to keep this blog spoiler free concerning the new film until everyone has had a couple of months to go and see this film. Thanks.

Until next time...